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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29699049">It's always there / It's in the air</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PennamePersona/pseuds/PennamePersona'>PennamePersona</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>below the skin [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hades (Video Game 2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>ADHD Zagreus (Hades Video Game), Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Autistic &amp; ADHD Hypnos (Hades Video Game), Autistic Thanatos (Hades Video Game), Brief Time Skip, Cuddling, M/M, Sibling Bonding</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:41:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,077</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29699049</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PennamePersona/pseuds/PennamePersona</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hypnos knew about your mark.” Thanatos blurts out. </p><p>“My what?” Zagreus glances down and realizes, in order:</p><p>1. He’s not wearing a shirt.<br/>2. He doesn’t 100% remember taking his shirt off but when he thinks about it for a minute, he’s pretty sure Dusa yanked it off him when he and his mother got home.<br/>3. His chest doesn’t look quite right and sort of stings.<br/>4. The reason his chest doesn’t look right is because there’s a Mark on the left side of it.</p><p>“Oh.” He says. “Right, my Mark.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dusa &amp; Thanatos (Hades Video Game), Hypnos &amp; Thanatos (Hades Video Game), Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>below the skin [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2163000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>88</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>It's always there / It's in the air</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Most of this fic is directly during/following the end of the last fic, minus the first scene which is just a bit of Chaos I wanted to include.</p><p>Title from In the Blood by Darren Korb.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Zagreus steadies himself, barely managing to stay on his feet. Trips to Chaos’s space are always disorienting, no way around that. He likes to think he’s getting better at adjusting, though.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hello,” Chaos says. Well, more like intones. Their voice is resonant, a chorus of power that Zagreus finds particularly striking when contrasted with the extremely loud bowling shirt they’re wearing. It’s quite the aesthetic. “How amusing to see you here once again.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Zagreus tries to look away from their shirt. Unfortunately, their Mark draws his attention as soon as he glances up. The vibrancy would be more than enough on its own, but the eye almost seems projected off their forehead. Between the shirt and the Mark, he’s already got a headache developing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I could’ve sworn I heard you calling me here this time,” Zagreus says. Chaos just smiles, their expression impossible to read. Funny how consistent they are in being disarming.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Chaos holds out their hand, Boon sphere floating above their palm. Zagreus steps forward and takes it without hesitation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I have noticed that your attention is often drawn to my Mark,” Chaos says while Zagreus muses over his choices. “Why is this?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Zagreus selects one of the boons and immediately feels the sharp prick of Chaos’s magic thread into him. “Oh, I’m sorry if I’ve been rude. I’ve never seen a Mark like yours before. The only other multi-colored Mark I know of is Nyx’s, but it’s still pretty different than yours.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Chaos gives him that unparseable smile again. “How interesting your perceptions are, even when they are inaccurate. As always, I appreciate the novelty your presence brings. Farewell for now.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Zagreus doesn’t get the chance to ask what they mean (not that he thinks they’d answer) before the world turns upside-down and inside-out, and he’s back in the Rings.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Months Later</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thanatos sets the tray of food down and snatches his phone out of his twin’s hand. “What do you think you’re doing? I go get our food, and you snoop through my private affairs?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hypnos grins lazily at him. “Aw, I just saw you got a message from Dusa is all. I thought it was sweet!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thanatos sighs and sits down across from him. He divides the food between them and is sure to hand Hypnos several napkins he’s certain will be forgotten momentarily. Someday, maybe, his tidiness will rub off on Hypnos. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wakes up his phone to check the message.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>dust bunny hate blog &lt;3</b>
  <b>
    <br/>
  </b>
  <span>zagreus just left on another run! I don’t know if he told you already, but I wanted to make sure you knew since you’re out :)</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <b>Acherontia styx</b>
  <b>
    <br/>
  </b>
  <span>He said he might go out today when we spoke earlier. I appreciate you checking in and keeping me updated.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <b>dust bunny hate blog &lt;3</b>
  <b>
    <br/>
  </b>
  <span>of course!! I hope you have a nice time with hypnos!</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Ohh, you’re smiling,” Hypnos says. He’s gesturing at Thanatos with a french fry dripping in some sort of sauce. “I didn’t know Dusa was already at smile status. How cute.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thanatos glares half-heartedly at him. “She was just letting me know that Zagreus left. No need to make a whole production out of it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hypnos hums and keeps grinning at him. Thanatos refuses to engage, instead choosing to stare directly down at his food while he eats. Nothing will stop Hypnos teasing him, but he doesn’t intend to actively encourage it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Blessedly, they do eat quietly for several minutes. It’s times like these that Thanatos is deeply grateful to have a brother who understands what it means to have sensory processing problems. Talking and eating at the same time while in public can be...tricky. Hypnos might coo at him every time he so much as smiles at another person, but he knows where Thanatos’s lines are. He’d never intentionally cross them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Really though,” Hypnos says, because all good things must come to an end. “You and Dusa seem to be getting along really well these days! Your neck’s all glowy, even.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, she’s Zagreus’s other partner. It’s only reasonable we’d try to get along. Beyond that, I’ve found her to be very enjoyable comp - wait, what?” Thanatos pauses. “What do you mean my neck is glowing?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He reaches up with the hand not holding his plastic fork and feels at his throat. Nothing seems off to him. Oddly, Hypnos makes the face usually reserved for when it’s pointed out that he’s been too blunt or laughed at an inappropriate time. Thanatos is very familiar with the feeling, but he can’t for the life of him figure out what the social faux pas is in this scenario.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, y’know, you’ve got Dusa’s green on you? Sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you about it.” Hypnos sounds genuinely apologetic. His shoulders curl in a bit. Usually this is the part where Thanatos tries to reassure his brother or communicate his own needs. He’d love to do that, except he truly has no idea what the hell is going on.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thanatos sets his fork down entirely and pushes his food aside. He folds his hand on the table in front of him. “Hypnos, I’m not upset, and I promise I mean this next part very sincerely. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hypnos blinks at him in confusion. Thanatos can relate.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like, her Mark? You’ve got her glow on you? Like how you’ve got Zag’s colors on your chest and mom on your back? Plus me on your hand. I don’t see your ankle much, but I figured Charon’s down there too.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Okay, so. Thanatos can get even more lost. Good to know. That’s...helpful information.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thanatos tries very, very hard not to sigh or put his head in his hands. He knows it’ll look like he’s frustrated with Hypnos, and he’s really not, he just...has never heard these words in this order before. It feels like Hypnos is speaking a language very close to his own, but just off enough that nothing actually makes sense. He’s used to that with other people, but generally he and Hypnos manage to communicate fairly well. It’s a very lucky coincidence of sharing a diagnosis as well as growing up together.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is it alright if I ask you some questions?” Thanatos asks. Hypnos nods. They’ve done this sort of thing before, when one of them is deeply confused: straight to the point questions that can have blunt and unfiltered answers, an indulgence not generally allowed to either of them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He decides to start with the slightly less impossible side. “What’s Dusa’s glow? You said it has something to do with her Mark?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, yeah,” Hypnos says. His eyes are wide, but he doesn’t look panicked or distressed, so there’s that. “It’s the green glow around your neck, like where her Mark is. I didn’t notice it before, so that’s how I knew you guys were getting closer.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Does this happen to everyone?” Thanatos asks. There’s a strange sensation welling up inside him, like he’s about to trip or fall off a ledge. Like his world is on the verge of shifting. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hypnos thinks for a moment. “Yeah, I think so. Whenever you get close to somebody, their Mark rubs off on you a bit, y’know? So you glow like them. Do you really not see when that happens?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thanatos swallows. He has to take several moments just to remember how to breathe properly. “No. I’ve never seen anything like that before. Marks leaving imprints on people...you don’t mean temporary Marks, do you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s phrased like a question, but Thanatos doesn’t really need the shake of Hypnos’s head to tell him it’s nothing so typical. He gets it anyway. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, the glow isn’t even in a shape. Or I guess I’m not sure if it is...it hurts my head if I look too close at them, so I usually don’t!” Hypnos chews at the edge of his lip. “I thought everyone saw the glow, but it was one of those things that isn’t okay to talk about. Whenever I brought it up, no one really paid attention. I guess they thought I was just pretending maybe?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thanatos shakes his head. “I’m not sure, Hypnos. I’m sorry if I ever dismissed you. This is...hm. Is it alright if I ask one more question?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hypnos shrugs. “Sure, go for it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You...you said I had Zagreus’s colors, too. But Zagreus doesn’t have a Mark.” It isn’t quite a question, but Thanatos doesn’t have another way to ask this. Hypnos said the colors were on his chest, and Thanatos can’t stop thinking about how Zagreus keeps mentioning chest pain when he returns from Persephone’s. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Zagreus doesn’t have a Mark. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>doesn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hypnos tilts his head to the side. “Yeah, it’s the strangest thing! Usually people without Marks don’t make the glow happen, but Zagreus leaves his glow all over the place. Even Cerberus has a bit of it! He just throws himself at everybody. I don’t know how he does it without having a Mark. Maybe that’s why he gets three colors?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thanatos feels as though he’s barely hanging on by a thread. His phone vibrates on the table next to him and he glances down on instinct. Another message from Dusa.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>dust bunny hate blog &lt;3</b>
  <b>
    <br/>
  </b>
  <span>Uh, Thanatos? Zagreus just got back and um….</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>I think you’re gonna want to come home and see for yourself</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>But uh, here’s something to at least give you an idea of what’s going on,,</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>There’s an image just below her words.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hypnos.” Than’s voice sounds so shaky. He feels it’s justified, seeing how the last thread holding the world as he knew it steady and familiar just snapped. “What are Zagreus’s colors?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hypnos blinks at him. “Red, orange, and yellow. Why?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thanatos just slides his phone across the table. Hypnos looks down at it. “Oh!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oh indeed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s a slightly blurry picture, like Dusa couldn’t hold her phone totally steady. Given the subject, Thanatos can’t blame her. It’s plenty clear enough to know what he’s seeing, regardless. He’s very familiar with how Zagreus looks without a shirt on. He’s mapped out that skin with hands and lips across dozens of afternoon makeout sessions and evening trysts. He knows what Zagreus’s chest looks like.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But he’s never seen the two laurel wreaths crossed on Zagreus’s left pectoral, right on top of his heart. They’re outlined in red at the bottom, which fades to orange at the middle, and yellow at their tips. It is unmistakably a Mark, and a large one at that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thanatos tries and fails to clear his throat, so his voice still comes out shaken. “Well. I think Zagreus was right, Hypnos. There is far more to your Mark than meets the eye.”</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Zagreus stirs from sleep, blinking against the fuzziness in his mind. He has a vague impression of Dusa fussing over him and shoving him onto the bed, saying something about being overwhelmed and “Actually getting some rest, you’ve had more than enough stress today!”.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>More than enough stress...his mother! She came back with him! His eyes shoot open fully and he sits up as much as he’s able under Dusa’s aggressively precise blanket tucking. He glances to the side and sees Than sitting in the chair by his bed. They stare at each other with wide eyes for a long moment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hypnos knew about your mark.” Thanatos blurts out. Zagreus can safely say he wasn’t expecting that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My what?” Zagreus glances down and realizes, in order:</span>
</p><p> </p><ol>
<li><span>He’s not wearing a shirt.</span></li>
<li><span>He doesn’t 100% remember taking his shirt off but when he thinks about it for a minute, he’s pretty sure Dusa yanked it off him when he and his mother got home.</span></li>
<li><span>His chest doesn’t look quite right and sort of stings.</span></li>
<li><span>The reason his chest doesn’t look right is because there’s a Mark on the left side of it.</span></li>
</ol><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” He says. “Right, my Mark.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thanatos gives him an exasperated sort of look that’s almost pleading. “Yes, your Mark. The Mark you developed when you and your mother returned to the House, or so Dusa told me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Zagreus nods, then pauses. “Wait. You said Hypnos knew about it? As in, before today?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Apparently!” Than throws his hands up in the air. “We were at lunch and he told me he can see the auras Marks leave on people, which would have been more than enough on its own. But no, you always have to be an exception, don’t you? Hypnos has been able to see </span>
  <em>
    <span>your</span>
  </em>
  <span> colors since long before you even started trying to get to your mother! So congratulations on being right about him, I suppose. Feel free to say ‘I told you so’.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Zagreus just stares at him. After a few moments and several deep breaths, Thanatos averts his eyes and looks a bit sheepish.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I may have, ah...gotten a bit carried away there. I apologize. It’s been quite a day.” He murmurs. Zagreus reaches out to cup his cheek, and his whole body softens when Thanatos immediately leans into the touch. He can feel the warmth of Than’s blush, otherwise invisible through his dark skin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Zagreus huffs out a laugh. “No worries. Here I thought I’d have a more incredible story to tell you, but I think I’ve been beaten.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“By a very small margin,” Thanatos says. He smiles, so warmly. “And really only because I already heard the details before you woke up. Though I haven’t heard about it from you, yet.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s a request for Zagreus to share his every thought and feeling about the entire experience, one that makes him find yet another new depth of loving Thanatos. He’s always surprised to discover it’s possible. “My mother came back with me. She came back, Than.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know,” Thanatos whispers. He cards a hand through Zagreus’s hair. “You must be so happy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Zagreus can’t help but laugh. Happy is such an incomplete descriptor of his feelings, but he doesn’t have anything better to call it. “I am, I really am. She was already packed and everything when I got there. She called Charon herself, which I didn’t expect. Apparently he gave her a calling card, though I’ve no idea when he had the chance.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The less time spent agonizing about how and when Charon does the things he does, the better.” Thanatos says. It’s spoken with the authority of both a younger brother and a coworker. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re absolutely right.” Zagreus says. “Honestly, I was so distracted the entire trip back that I barely remember it. It was just...I was so worried she was going to turn me away again that I didn’t know how to feel about her already deciding to come with me! I still don’t.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Very fair.” Thanatos murmurs. He leans down and kisses Zagreus’s forehead. “Scoot over, will you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Zagreus tries, but as soon as he starts shifting, Dusa’s careful tucking gets disrupted. He decides it’s better to just get out from under the blanket entirely and wriggles out the top with as much care as he can. Thanatos laughs at him and sends the butterflies inside him aflutter. They never did relocate after that day in the garden.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Finally on top of the covers, Zagreus scoots over to make room for Thanatos to join him on the bed. He winds up leaning against Than’s chest and immediately having his hair played with. He melts into his boyfriend and delights in the scattered little braids sure to be in his near future.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And then I got that awful chest pain again, which felt extremely unfair at the time,” Zagreus continues. “Still does, though it definitely makes more sense now. I guess being outside the Wards but still around so much magic must’ve given my Mark the chance to start coming through?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As good a theory as any,” Thanatos hums. “Unfortunate that it was so painful.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Zagreus huffs a laugh. “Yeah, I’d say so. I still can’t believe I really have one...or that Hypnos was able to tell without realizing! Why did he never say anything?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Apparently he thought everyone could see the auras Marks leave, but it was considered impolite to address.” Thanatos sounds amused. “I can’t blame him, really. If I had an obol for every time a social rule didn’t make any sense or I didn’t talk about something I thought everyone knew, I think I could get Charon to do just about anything I wanted.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I feel you there.” Zagreus says. “Wow. Hypnos really is something else. I figured his Mark had to be unique somehow, especially since it looks so much like...Chaos…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He trails off for a long moment, then groans. Thanatos pauses in his braiding and makes a concerned sound. “Zag? Is everything alright?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Zagreus laughs, more out of absurdity than humor. He tips his head back to give Than a reassuring smile. “Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine. It’s just that a conversation I had with Chaos a few months back suddenly makes a lot more sense.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thanatos still looks confused, which is extremely fair. Zagreus opens his mouth to explain more, but then his bedroom door flies open. Hypnos barges in and throws himself on the bed, landing on top of both their legs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I get it now! More than meets the </span>
  <em>
    <span>eye</span>
  </em>
  <span>! Because my Mark is an eye!” Hypnos waves his hand in the air excitedly. “That was a really good one, Than, sorry it took me so long to get it. Unless you didn’t mean it as a joke? In which case, you’re welcome for making something you said so much better. Oh hey Zag, glad you’re awake! Whoaaa, your Mark looks even cooler up close. And the colors are just right. Hey, did you know you leave your colors on way more people than anybody else? Even mom doesn’t have her colors on as many people as you do! I guess it’s because you’re so charismatic, or maybe that you just never stop talking. I’m not sure. I thought mom or Than might know, but turns out they can’t see the colors anyway! Oh, did Than tell you I can see the colors? If he didn’t, I must sound totally wild right now!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hypnos keeps chattering on and on, accompanied by the background chorus of Zagreus’s laughter and Thanatos’s groans. As far as continuations of this absurd day go, for once this one feels just about right.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope y'all like this! I was originally gonna have more buildup to Zag's Mark but I just could not help myself. </p><p>Kudos are rad and I absolutely love love love comments!! Particularly on a developing verse, it's extremely helpful to know how folks feel about it. :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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